In light of the recent high coverage female sexual assaults in India, film director Vikas Bahl has created a short film depicting a world a women would like to believe exists. This is in conjunction with Vogue India which has started the #Vogueempower campaign.

This clip was placed on youtube and has currently over 2 millions views. It’s a short but powerful clip starring one of India’s rising stars, Alia Bhatt (who made her debut in the film Student of the Year in 2012, which is a great movie for the rom-com lovers out there), whose car breaks down on a quiet street. A car full of men stop to help. You’ll just have to watch to see how the clip ends.

I think in a country where progress has been slow on such a huge issue (and apparently is being used as political leverage rather than being recognised as a basic human right but perhaps this is a hard cultural change) using high profile stars to target a large audience and the right audience is a great way to go.

“I pledge to create a short film titled ‘Going Home’, in which we visualise a utopia for women, where, unlike today, mistrust and fear don’t dictate actions and decisions,” – director Vikas Bahl.

In 2014, women are only earning 78 cents to a man’s dollar which equates to roughly $435,049 over a woman’s career and collective to $30 trillion US for 69 million in the workplace. So the Equal Payback project aims to crowd fund that $30 trillion back where the money will go towards the National Women’s Law Centre (who advocate women’s issues).

This ad is doing the rounds on the web at the moment. Incase you’ve missed it: Being told that you do something like a girl is widely seen as an insult but at what point does it become an insult? This video contrasts the adolescent/adult perception and the child’s perception of what doing things like a girl looks like.

This was made by filmmaker Lauren Greenfield and feminine beauty brand Always (an arm of Proctor & Gamble). #likeagirl on twitter.

I’m writing like a girl. Because i am one. And this is what it looks like.

I had previously written about director Jennifer Siebal Newsom and her Miss Representation film. This amazing lady is also the brain behind The Mask You Live In, which looks at how the media is failing boys and men.

The need to be “manly” and crying shows weakness are what have been floating around society for eons but how is this impacting on the men of tomorrow? What is being defined as masculinity today?

With much attention solely focused on how women are presented and how this affects them, I think it’s great that a spotlight is also shone on how men are affected because they are.

The film is due to be released at some point later this year so keep your eyes and ears peeled! Although it probably won’t reach Aus for about 10 years.

Directed and written by Jennifer Siebal Newsom, Miss Representation explores how women are under represented in mainstream media in positions of power in America and instead how women are portrayed, sending the message to men and women that the value of women lie in her appearence and not in intelligence and her capacity to be a leader.

I had the opportunity to see this film with a friend last year in Sydney and is something I think should be screened in schools and if you get the opportunity to see it- is a great film. It was one of those things that gave me chills as I was watching because it reflects EXACTLY what society is. Media reaches so many citizens and their content shapes society and what their values and ideals are. This film will show you exactly what that is. You know that change is needed when the media focus on the appearence of very high female politicians in a way that ridicules them than on what they actually stand for and I would rather this not be the norm.

Featuring in this film are some of the most inspirational women around- 66th US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, 60th US Speaker in the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, American TV Journalist and News anchor Katie Couric, TV Host Rachel Maddow, Comedian Margaret Cho and Actress Rosario Dawson to name a few.

If you think that women and girls deserve better representation in the media, chat with friends about it and keep an mindful eye out for media that is portraying women incorrectly and/or correctly (have to look at 2 sides here) and say something about it. I’ll be blogging more about these later.

There is a male equivalent film coming out some time this year called The Mask You Live In, which I will blog about next week!